International Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Business Ethics - Essay Example Most multinational companies will tend to adopt universalism when faced with issues perceived as threats. There is also a tendency by some multinational countries to view whites as superior to other races and give special treatment to white employees (Carroll, 2004, p. 116; Deresky, 2008, p 31). Aspiration for achievement of moral universalism is quite impossible and in most cases unadvisable. This is because there is great inconsistency in behaviours and culture in different firms and thus difficult to reconcile moral or even business ethics. However, the approach is viable when dealing with moral or economic issues that have internationally set standards such as natural laws and Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Moral universalism is applicable when dealing with issues pertaining to human rights (Carroll, 2004, p. 114-119; Deresky, 2008, p 55-59). Ethnocentric Approach Ethnocentric approach hypothesizes that Multinational companies apply moral from their home country and disre gard the business ethics in the host country (Carroll, 2004, p. 116; Deresky, 2008, p. 33). ... Some multinational companies also disregard human rights set by host countries. A good example is the propensity of some Multinational companies from Asian countries to disregard the right to equality irrespective of gender (Carroll, 2004, p. 116; Deresky, 2008, p. 69-71). MNCs from some Asian countries do not offer equal employment opportunities for men and women. Ethnocentric approach is also evident in Some Multinational companies that use money or other gifts as a form of enticement even in countries that consider enticement as a form of corruption (Carroll, 2004, p. 115-116; Deresky, 2008, p. 40-44). Ethnocentric approach is possible and advisable in some situations such as using free samples to enlighten people on a new product or even entice them to purchase. However, such enticement or behaviour should be done cautiously if host countries consider it as illegal (Carroll, 2004, p. 117). Ethical Relativism Moral Relativism is a concept, which assumes that there are different st andards of defining right from wrong and no criterion can be considered universally acceptable. Relativism approach advocates that multinational companies adopt the moral codes of the host country. Moral standards differ depending on individuals as well as culture. Moral Relativism posits that the moral standards are not static and keep changing with time. In addition, the theory supposes that authorities such as religion, culture, and governments also define the morality (Carroll, 2004, p. 116; Deresky, 2008, p. 59-61). Examples of Attempts by Multinational Organisations to Use Ethical Relativism Most multinational companies tend to apply ethical relativism since it encourages acceptability from the host country. A good example is adherence to laws of the

Teen Prevention Programs Teen Prevention of Sex Research Paper

Teen Prevention Programs Teen Prevention of Sex - Research Paper Example The study involved a randomized sample of 8430 students between the ages of 13 and 15 from 25 schools in Scotland. The students were evenly divided into two groups: control and experimental groups. The experimental group consisted of students who participated in the SHARE program and the control group consisted of students who participated in the sex-education program. The research was built around a conceptual framework reported in the literature. A review of the literature indicates that previous studies report that conventional sex-education programs have functioned to improve the sexual behavior of teens. However, those studies were based on methodologies involving experimental groups rather than randomized trial samples. Thus this study was intended to use a randomized trial sample as a means of determining whether or not conventional sex-education provided a benefit over and above new programs that were specifically aimed at altering the risky sexual behavior of teens. The research methodology involved participating schools to either implement the SHARE program or to continue with the sex-education program. The students were administered a self-reporting questionnaire within six months the completion of the programs. A further follow-up questionnaire was conducted two years later. An evaluation was conducted to determine the authenticity of the programs. The evaluation took into account variables such as context, delivery and students’ responses to the programs. Results indicated that there were no significant differences in sexual behavior after the completion of both programs based on the follow-up questionnaire. Vastly similar numbers of members of both control and experimental groups reported being sexually active by the time the programs were half-way through. Similar numbers also reported using condoms as well as engaged in unprotected sex. However, for students in both groups that had withdrawn from the school, there

The General Prologue Essay Example for Free

The General Prologue Essay Unlike monks, Friars were allowed to leave the monastery but they were supposed to do so to serve the community. The friar should have begged for money and preached to the laity but Chaucers Friar only associates with the wealthy, Ful wel beloved and famulier was he/ With frankelyns over al in his contree. He was not strict on sinners pleasant was his absolutioun instead he took money to absolve sins, immorally taking money from those in poverty For thogh a widwe hadde noght a sho,/ So plesaunt was his In principio,-/ Yet wolde he have a ferthing, er he wente. Chaucer lists the various sins of the Friar: he sells pardon from sin for a price, seduces women who ask for pardons, and frequents bars rather than giving charity to the poor He knew the tavernes wel in every toun Bet than a lazar of a beggestere. Chaucer is deeply sarcastic; he picks out the misdemeanours of the Monk but seyd his opinion was good and that certainly he was a fair prelaat. This sarcasm emphasizes Chaucers contempt of the church as he mocks the Monk and invites the reader to dislike him. Similarly Chaucer uses irony in his portrait of the Friar, as he often does in the use of the word worthy. When he says, This worthy man was cleped Huberd he uses irony to express is distaste; the friar is not worthy in his profession or in his private life which should be dedicated to the church. The Parson, portrayed later in The General Prologue provides a strong contrast with the friar as a man who performs his duties honourably and looks after his congregation. Chaucer obviously respects the Parson; he is a good man also a lerned man benign he was, and wonder diligent,/ And in adversitee ful pacient. All these qualities are highly regarded and admirable, and none are shared with the Friar. The portrait of the Parson increases the impression that the church was corrupt at this time by giving an example of what was expected. Additionally, the parson is the only religious character presented as truly devout which suggests that the majority of the church was corrupt. Chaucer introduces religious characters in The General Prologue as unworthy and dishonest, particularly the Friar who deceived and neglected his people. He uses the religious characters on the pilgrimage to comment on the church, which had great power in his time. Great attention is paid to the appearance of the characters, particularly of the Monk, which highlights the materialism present, a great contrast to the poverty vowed in the religious orders.

Stylishly Reborn Alice In Wonderland Film Studies Essay

Stylishly Reborn Alice In Wonderland Film Studies Essay The original version of Alices Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is a well-known fairy tale for describing a fantasy world populated by peculiar creatures. A girl named  Alice  who falls down a rabbit hole connected to a  fantasy world described as Wonderland. The newly released movie Alice in Wonderland in 2010 by the director Tim Burton portrays a nineteen-year-old Alice who, 13 years after her previous visit, returns for the first time as a young girl. Tim Burton has a recognizable and distinctive style and thematic content which turn his work into an  oeuvre  and themselves into  auteur which means that Tim Burton slightly changed the original Alice to his style of Alice by adding some different story in the movie. Burton is one such filmmaker, a director who has earned the status of auteur. By portraying grown up Alice, Tim Burton addresses some of both dark and bright sides of the adults society in a stealthy way described as Underland in the movie with visu al elements under the predominant perspective in the shape of fairy tale. In other words, there are hidden sides of Alice in Wonderland such as the use of drugs, gender roles and social hierarchy buried under the fairy tale. This paper analyzes how Tim Burton expresses visual elements to imply hidden meanings of the dark and problematic side and some of the bright side of the adults real society. Kim 2 The movie Alice in Wonderland, released in 2010, brought freshness to the storyline and came out with even deeper meanings implied visually keeping the classic story of Alice in Wonderland by the director Tim Burton. The film adapts many elements besides Carrolls book, rendering it digressive and derivative in the storyline. The movie should not be considered only as a fairy tale for children. Because of the directors style and narrative choices, the movie contains more actual emotional connection by using high quality techniques such as camera movements, colors, angles and lightings. The movie remains a fairy tale but under the surface of the story, it also contains deep psychological structures expressed by the director Tim Burtons style of visual elements such as graphics, camera movements, the contrast between light and shade, and textures in the frames having some deeper messages such as the use of drugs or the dictatorship according to the social class. These visual elements al low the director to represent some hope for the future real society and some of the corrupted adults world hidden under the innocence of a fairy tale. I have naturally thought that no matter what is shown on the movie screen, Alice in Wonderland should always be for innocent children with full of imagination. However, the movie Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton should be regarded as a story of illustrating some parts of corrupted society with the aesthetic visuals shown on the screen. Cleaver and Erdman, who wrote Changing Images Of Alice, reported that analysis of images of Alice found that although the character  of  Alice  was presented differently through time, there were no major changes to the story (Screen 12). The reason is because there had been no remarkable changes in the story of Alice in Wonderland other than Tim Burtons version of it. Tim Burton Kim 3 tried adapting some new point of views by illustrating Alice as a nineteen-year-old girl which implies that she is going to be an adult and enter the adults society soon so that Tim Burton can address deeper messages into the movie with his own style. Daniel Sieden who is engaged in education scholar said that Tim Burton explained the goal of the movie Alice in Wonderland is to try to make it an engaging movie with real emotional connection that he had never felt in other Alice stories (Examiner). The reason why Tim Burton made the film is because to make the original Alice in Wonderland even unique with his own story line making it as Alices second trip to Wonderland which is changed to Underland for grown up Alice. Tim Burton sets up the situation that she does not remember ever being there in the past. Alice mistakenly called Wonderland to Underland in the movie so it is called Underland through the movie which I think was great transition word from Wonderland which implies more c hildrens world with full of curious to Underland which more implies adults dark side of the real world. By setting Alice not remembering visiting Wonderland, Tim Burton connects emotional attachment of being in real Underland reflecting the real world in his style. Moreover, according to Niemiec, author of A Wonderland Journey Through Positive Psychology Interventions, said that though it is a continuation of the classic story in many respects, it is also a unique tale in its own right.  Alice  is now a 19-year-old, in the movie and she must decide whether she wants to accept the marriage proposal of Hamish, the son of a lord.  As she wanders away from the engagement party to reflect on the proposal, her curiosity leads her down the rabbit hole into  Wonderland  which was referred as Underland in the film.  Alices  emergence as a heroine is not only about helping others but also about identity, autonomy, competence, and self-development.  Burtons version is superior in creativity and Kim 4 depth, as well as more resonant with the themes of positive psychology (2). As Niemiec mentions, Tim Burton described well in fantasy way by setting up Alice as a grown up woman. Tim Burton added a chain of a connection between teenagers turning to adults and entering the real grown-up world. Tim Burton pursues his own style of Alice in Wonderland not only with the story of it but also astonishing visual elements generated based on the computer-animated skills. He uses a variety of formal structures such as camera movements, angles, lighting styles, colors, shot framings and visual transitions in each scene in his movie. These various uses of the techniques support discovering some hidden meanings such as the use of drugs, gender roles, and social hierarchy under the surface of the storyline. Throughout the whole movie, there are hundreds of scenes that represent the adults society such as the use of drugs, gender roles and social hierarchy. There are some brief examples showing the use of drugs, gender roles and social hierarchy. Simply, smoking Caterpillar is one of the scenes that shows the use of drugs. For the gender role, First of all, the genre of Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton is an adventurous fantasy. Therefore, there were a lot of scenes that can never happen in the real world even if the movie actually reflects the real world. Thus, there were a lot of scenes that can be interpreted to the use of drugs. When I decided to criticize Alice in Wonderland in my own argument, I personally thought that the film has some sort of allegory for a drug trip which I had never thought of when I read the original Alice in Wonderland in a book when I was a child. It was hard to not see all of the use of drugs once I realized they are in the movie expressed well by visual elements. According to the Unreality Magazine, actually many scenes can be interpreted as the uses of the drugs in Alice in Wonderland such as cocaine, nitros oxide, LSD, crystal meth, marijuana and some more. Almost every scene implied some popular drugs that are big problems in the real world. The way of drawing each scene with the various uses of colors, camera movements, and angles, some characters in the movie can be discovered as using drugs by some changes of their behaviors. For example, almost right after entering the Underland, Alice looks for the Caterplillar called Absolem. The Caterpillars house was hidden by a smoke which seems to be a smoke from cigarettes. At this moment of the scene, the audience can notice that the Caterpillar is definitely smoking a cigarette. When Alice meets the Caterpillar, the Caterpillar is holding a pipe while he talks with Alice. Alice coughs several times because of the smoke from the cigarette. This scene is fairly obvious that the Caterpillar is smoking a cigarette which contains nicotine. Also, Ti m Burton sets Alice and the Caterpillar face each other while talking to each other when the Caterpillar is smoking. This scene reflects the real world that adults smokes in front of people while talking with some people even if they are children no matter how young they are. It implies that adults do not really care the danger of smoking cigarettes to growing up children. This scene addresses problematic side of the corrupted world. People do not actually realize cigarettes are also a kind of drugs. Therefore, they just smoke cigarettes in front of children and the scene shows how adults are not aware of children. Unlike some of the other movies of my childhood such as  The Little Mermaid  or  Beauty and the Beast, Alice had no inclination to find her way to Prince Charming. She instead embraced a childlike curiosity that got her both into trouble and out of it. The gender roles  played out in Disneys newer, live action version of  Alice in Wonderland  are a bit different than both Carolls original book and Disneys original film, however. The fact that the new  Alice in Wonderland features a much older Alice, on the verge of marriage, exposes a bit of our societys infatuation with portraying a much older image as favorable (can kids just not be kids anymore?) This idea of marriage helps exemplify the gender roles present, however. There is much pressure on Alice to not only marry the geeky red-headed aristocrat, but his mother also assumes she will fill her proper gender role by spouting off all of his dietary needs at the very start of the film. Alice seems to go along with it at first, but later catches her sisters husband cheating-this seems to be the turning point in her attitude, and possibly the cause of her running away after the proposal. It is important to note that within  Alice in Wonderland  most of the leadership roles are fulfilled by women-the Queen of Hearts is, of course, the particularly brutal ruler. The White Queen, on the other hand, is the softer, feminine queen that is slowly gaining discreet support. The gender roles of these two queens are very important, especially when you take into consideration the effect their predicament has on Alice. The Queen of Hearts demonstrates that in order to get ahead you must take on a violent and fear-inducing persona-traditionally masculine in our society. The White Queen embraces no such violence, and states a few times within the film that acting violently is against her vows. However, she has no qualms sending others to do her dirty work-hence sending Alice to slay the Jabberwocky (cutting off his head, no less). Though the main leadership roles of  Alice in Wonderland  are held by females, it seems the brains behind the operation in both cases happen to fall with men-the Red Knight for the Red Queen, and most ironically the Mad Hatter for the White Queen. This gives the gender roles an interesting place. The Red Queen is comically shown to be quite stupid-and rather naÃÆ' ¯ve as well. The manipulative Knight rules Wonderland through the Queen. The White Queen may be the ruling figurehead trying to rise up in power, but it is the Mad Hatter that leads and organizes the resistance against the Red Queen. Really, the White Queen does little other than stand as a symbol. I commended the makers of  Alice in Wonderland  at first for allowing the White Queen to retain her femininity, but it was because of her particular lack of action that I was a bit saddened. She needed Alice to save her kingdom and stand as her champion, but again, Alice had to take on masculine traits in order to do this. Now, I have no problems with females embracing courage within childrens movies. Empowering girls is a great action to take, but I feel at the same time that it is a bit archaic that in order to succeed one must take on masculine characteristics. In this way, the gender roles within  Alice in Wonderland  are a bit hegemonic in nature-perpetuating the idea of masculine as ideal in our society. This ideal is perpetuated in the end of the film. I loved that Alice did not end up marrying, and became a part of the company her father left behind-a positive message showing that Alice indeed has the adventurous nature of her father. But forsaking the traditional female gender role to embrace a more masculine version also isnt the answer. What would have been the proper ending for  Alice in Wonderland? There is no easy answer here. I dont believe that the ending was improper, or sexist. It is obviously attempting to empower young girls to seek new horizons, which I entirely support. My suggestion is perhaps to not make the contrast between feminine and masculine quite so sharp. It shouldnt be settle down and be a housewife vs. adventure with your fathers trade route and see the world, after slaying a hideous creature. Gender roles today should be much more fluid in their interpretation, I believe. Why such a stark dichotomy between masculine and feminine within  Alice in Wonderland, as well as our own culture? Im not saying we should perpetuate historical female gender roles, but we shouldnt demonize them either. The point is to consider all gender attributes to be equal, and just as likely within every person.  Alice in Wonderland  does a good job of showing females embracing masculine characteristics (in bot h positive and negative ways), but they do little in showing men with fluid gender roles, positively embracing typically female gender attributes. I think  Alice in Wonderland  made a good effort at empowering young girls to overcome their traditional gender roles to broaden horizons. I believe by giving the White Queen highly feminine traits, and the Red Queen negatively violent traits, we see a step in the right direction in getting away from idealized aggressive masculine traits. Though there are some obvious issues, I would say  Alice in Wonderland  did a relatively good job in promoting healthy gender roles to the youth of our culture. But more work is still yet to be done.

English Language Learning Essay example -- Education, Gujarati Familie

The overall aim of this research is to explore historical and contemporary discourses of social policies of identity, assimilation, multiculturalism and sense of belonging in relationship to the ‘practices of the everyday’ (Lewis 2004) and to explore how the individuals make sense of their world through and by their experiences and practices of it. I will particularly focus on the area of language learning as a part of identity formation to find out how participants are involved in the act of making their language learning possible in spite of all the challenges. By this I mean not to reveal what 'really' happens, but rather to analyse participant's accounts in relation to the political discourses surrounding language, assimilation and community cohesion. Duke (2002: 42) argues taking a qualitative route in relation to researching social policy is essential when trying to 'delve into parts of the policy process which quantitative methods cannot reach. They have the pot ential to explore innovation, originality, complexity, interactions, conflicts and contradictions'. This research is, therefore, an attempt to find answers to the problems and predicaments related to English language learning under different political agenda and to demonstrate how these varying determinants had an effect on the process of language learning and identity formation of Gujarati women in the diaspora. THE CONTEXT OF RESEARCH: It is important to contextualise the process of identity formation of Gujarati women with what was happening in Britain in regard to race relation at both the time of their arrival and the various stages of settlement since. The 1970s was a period when many Gujarati families arrived in the UK as refugees or economic migrants... ...r levels of ability In English for refugees and other migrants to the U. K. by linking language ability with employment potential (DFES Publications,2010). Thus on one hand, the government is stressing the importance of English language learning, on the other hand, the funding for the programmes that provide language training is being cut. There is no doubt that how the migrant women learnt/learn English is shaped by these policies which had/have direct impact on their learning. This research aims to highlight the discrepancies in the policy doctrines and their implementation by comparing the impact of the policies on the process of English language learning of Gujarati women under different political regimes. It focuses on how identities are shaped as an outcome of the political agenda by the qualitative study of the learning journeys of Gujarati women in London.

Plutarchs Aims and Achievements as a Biographer Essay -- English Lite

A critical study of a significant aspect or aspects of Plutarch's aims and achievements as a biographer -To what extent does Plutarch achieve his aims for the lives of Marius and Caesar? We are able to establish Plutarch's aims in creating his biographies by looking at his background and influences. Plutarch was born in Greece to a wealthy established family. He was well educated, studying rhetoric in Athens, and then travelled to Rome where he established connections with some important political figures. Despite being an outsider (a Greek), Plutarch accepted Roman aristocratic tradition as well as the moralising of some key Roman figures. This is reflected in the 'Lives' which in effect provide moral guidelines, prescribing how one should live a virtuous life. He viewed himself as an artist or moraliser rather than a historian, believing, "It is not so much history that we are writing but lives."[1] Plutarch was deeply into the platonic approach to ethics, and therefore was also influenced by Socrates. Plato was a pupil of Socrates who claimed that the most important thing in life was to know how one should live; an emphasis on moral conduct was therefore passed down to Plutarch. He is fascinated not only by great deeds and battles but, "often a little matter, like a saying or a joke,"[2] which can be more revealing in terms of character and virtue. Plato's philosophy was about the search for absolute standards of truth and moral certainty and almost all of his works are about ethics, or moral philosophy. His aim was therefore to create a, "revelation of virtue or vice,"[3] intending to "shape the life of each man"[4] in terms of moral not financial or political stature, and hopes the reader gains... ...against him but achieved less (although still a few) of his aims in the 'Life of Caesar'. --------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Plutarch, Fall of the Roman Republic, Alexander, 1.1-3, Penguin [2] Plutarch, Alexander, 1.1-3, [3] Plutarch, Alexander, 1.1-3, [4] Plutarch, Alexander, 1.1-3, [5] Russell, p105 [6] Russell, Plutarch quote, p80 [7] Plutarch, Alexander, 1.1-3 [8] Plutarch, Marius [3] [9] Plutarch, Marius [7] [10] Plutarch, Marius [9] [11] Plutarch, Marius [2,5] [12] Plutarch, Marius [10] [13] Plutarch, Marius [45] [14] Plutarch, Marius [46] [15] Plutarch, Marius [7] [16] Plutarch, Marius notes by Robin Seager [17] Plutarch, Alexander, 1.1-3 [18] Plutarch, Marius [6] [19] Plutarch, Marius [46] [20] Plutarch, Caesar [1] [21] Cicero [22] Plutarch, Caesar [69]

Phonics Primer for Year Five Remedial Class in Primary School Essay

1.1 Description of the Area of Research Title of the Study: Phonics Primer for Year Five Remedial Class in Primary School. Phonics is letter-sound correspondences. The units of sound can be syllables, onsets & rimes, or phonemes (EdResearch.info). Phonics Primer is a way of learning the sounds of the alphabet in order to decode the English language. It is recognized by a quick pace of teaching letter and the sound or grapheme and phoneme matches and immediately getting students to use this knowledge to read and spell regular words. Words are read by using the phonological skill of blending the sounds together – synthesis (hence the term â€Å"synthetic phonics†). Words are spelled by using the phonological skill of hearing the sounds in words (segmentation) by means of which words are segmented into their constituent phonemes (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia) Research Questions 1. What is the strategy in teaching synthetic phonics? 2. Can the method be successfully taught in shorter periods? 3. Can the 44 sounds of Phonics Primer help in teaching non-English speakers who have other sounds that is found in English? 4. Can Phonics Primer be used to teach cohorts in higher levels with reading difficulties? Research Variables The instruments that I will use in my research will be: 1. Questionnaires 2. Interviews 3. Classroom Observation Checklist 4. Tests 5. Document Reviews Gay and Airasian (20030 defined population as â€Å"The population is the group of interest to the researcher, the group to which the results of the study will ideally generalized†. The respondents of the research will be for remedial students from the outskirt of Sarikei in Sarawak. The majority of the students will be of the Iban race. The research will be conducted on two groups of selected students. One group will be used for study, called the experimental group. Another group would be the controlled group and they will be taught with the conventional teaching procedure during English lessons. Both groups will be cohorts who will need assistant in reading. About six students will be involved in this study. They will be remedial students from the cohort of year five students who are in the remedial class. The respected students and school will be chosen simply to fulfill the requirements of the research that will use the Primers phonics approach to teach reading for remedia l students. 1.2 Theoretical Framework Often we find that in schools, there are always students who are very poor in reading English. It is even worst when the students cannot read in a language that is very similar to theirs. This means that the students are having problems in basic reading. We can say that these students are too slow in picking up during their reading lessons in English. In classes where we have been teaching, oftentimes we see that students cannot recognize words and even there are some who cannot read. The students in rural Sarikei, in Sarawak, specifically are mostly Ibans. They are non-English speakers. They only encounter the language when they come to school. English therefore is very unfamiliar to them. Many English sounds don’t even exist in their mother tongue. Synthetic phonics has all the 44 sounds of the English Language. It is a very systematic way to teach basic reading in English. By using the method of teaching, students can read faster and easier. The method of teaching and the instruments used in teaching it can enable the remedial students of the primary schools to remember the sounds made by the letters and enable them to read. Research instrument are devices to measure the objects of the study. Instruments come in multiple forms. For this research, the researcher will be using multiple forms like questionnaires, observation forms, interview forms and tests to get information. The questionnaires and interviews will be used to get information about experiences, suggestions and ideas related to the study. The observation forms will be used to make observations during the study. From observation forms, the researcher will be able to see weaknesses and strengths during the teaching of Phonics Primer and also the current teaching method used by the school to make comparisons. The tests which will be given before and after teaching Phonics Primer will help the researcher to find out if the case study that they are doing is suitable and good for teaching remedial students. Questionnaires Questionnaires are familiar to most people (Berdie, Anderson, and Niebuhr, 1986).It is a written or printed form used in gathering information on some subject or subjects, consisting of a set of questions to be submitted to one or more persons (Your Dictionary.Com) It is a communication method of designing questionnaires to collect the requisite information. It is a list of questions framed to get facts. A questionnaire is defined as a group of printed questions used to elicit information from subjects by means of self report. Questionnaires will be distributed to both experimental and controlled group. Teacher Questionnaires. A teacher questionnaire is designed to gather information administered to English teachers in school. The questionnaire will be done two times, that is before the start of the Phonics Programme. A second questionnaire will follow at the end of the programme. This is to find out the status of remedial reading before and after the programme. If there are any differences before and after the programme, it will be noted down for analysis in the research later. Students’ Questionnaires Students’ questionnaire will also be done. It will be done with students who are involved with the study. They are the experimental group of students and also the controlled group of students for comparison later. Questionnaires can help the researcher discover the experiences, knowledge and backgrounds of the students and the school which is related to the case study that is going to be done. These information will help the researcher to know more and understand more about the stand of the students involved in the study. The questionnaire is also important in helping the researcher to make conclusion and give suggestions for future study of similar case. Interview The interview is a dialogue between the teachers with the researcher. The most commonly accepted objective of the interview is to determine whether there is a match between the candidates’ education, experience, interest and goals and the goals of the researcher related to the study for which the researcher is interviewing. In this study, the researcher conducts the interview with the remedial students’ teacher. This interview is designed to elicit data using a set of predetermined questions that are expected to elicit the subjects thoughts, opinions and attitudes regarding the teaching of reading to remedial students. Group Interviews with Teachers. To identify the major issues surrounding the planning and implementation of reading instruction in schools of a rural school, group interviews will be conducted with English remedial teachers. An interview will be used to facilitate discussion. Responses to the uniform standard questions will contribute to the final analysis of the study findings. Individual Interviews with Teachers. To investigate all of the major research questions. presented earlier, interviews will be conducted with English remedial teachers in the selected schools. An interview will be used to facilitate information gathering. Responses to the questions will contribute to the final analysis of the study findings. Observation Instruments Observation is a technique of gathering data through direct contact with the subjects. In this study, the researcher will observe two classes. The researcher will observe ongoing class using Primer Phonics and the normal teaching of remedial students in the school. Observation instrument is necessary to detect any strength and weaknesses for both types of methodology in teaching remedial students. The detections will be noted down in the researcher’s note book for making analysis, conclusion and suggestions for future researches. Classroom Observation Classroom observation will be done to make sure that Primer Phonics is taught accordingly. A checklist will be used. Classroom observations will also be done for the normal teaching of remedial students in the same school. The need for making observation for the normal method of teaching is to enable comparison among the two types of methodology later. Additional data collection and review will occur during the observations. Researchers summarized notes after each observation. Test The researcher will conduct two types of tests, the Pre test and the Post test, for two groups of students from the remedial class only. The students will be divided into the experimental and controlled group. A Pre test will be used to see the students’ ability to read before teaching using the Primers Phonic Method. The Post test will be used to see the achievements made after teaching using the Primers’ Phonic Method. Both the experimental and the controlled groups will take the tests so the researcher can compare if there will be any differences in the achievements after teaching using the Primers’ Phonic Method for the experimental group. The Controlled group will be taught by their own remedial teachers using the usual syllabus in the school. In the tests, subjects are to read a short text of about 150 words. These tests aims to see how good the students can or cannot read before and after teaching using the Primers’ Phonic Method. To assess the students reading, 5 criteria will be ticked accordingly. Students who gets two out of five ‘Yes’ are considered to have pass the Pre Test or the Post test Document Review Document review will inform the research process to varying degrees. Among the documents analyzed were student work samples, report cards, forms, letters to parents, lesson plans, lists of reading books, and other relevant documents pertinent to current reading instruction. The Theoretical Framework Diagram 1: The Diagram depicts the theoretical framework. 1.3 Review of Related Literature The literature reviews forwarded here will help us to understand more about the case study that will be done. A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge and or methodological approaches on a particular topic. Literature reviews are secondary sources, and as such, do not report any new or original experimental work. Most often associated with academic-oriented literature, such as theses, a literature review usually precedes a research proposal and results section. Its ultimate goal is to bring the reader up to date with current literature on a topic and forms the basis for another goal, such as future research that may be needed in the area. A well-structured literature review is characterized by a logical flow of ideas; current and relevant references with consistent, appropriate referencing style, proper use of terminology and an unbiased and comprehensive view of the previous research on the topic I would like to make a review of related literature which is in my area of research, Instruction, Development, and Achievement of Struggling Primary Grade Readers by Elizabeth Campbell Rightmyer, Ellen McIntyre, and Joseph M Petrosko. Reading Research and Instruction. Coral Gables: Spring 2006. Their study examined the phonics and reading achievement of 117 primary grade students in 14 schools and 42 classrooms. Students received instruction in one of six different reading programs or models based upon the school they attended. Through qualitative data collection and analysis of specific instructional practices, they determined that no model or program proved more effective for the learning of phonics in the first grade after one year of instruction. Purpose The purpose of their study was to examine the phonics and reading achievement of primary grade students receiving instruction in six different instructional programs or models (referred to as â€Å"models† in reference to their study). Then, through a qualitative analysis of the specific instructional practices within these models and their understanding of young children’s literacy development, they explain the relative differences in achievement gains of these primary grade struggling readers. Method They examined the instructional practices and achievement of low performing students in first through third grade classrooms in which teachers used one of the following reading models: Breakthrough to Literacy (www.btl.com); Early Success (Cooper, et al., 1997); Early Intervention (Taylor, Medo, & Strait, 1995); Four Blocks (Cunningham, Hall, & DeFee, 1991); SRA Reading Mastery (Engelmann & Bruner, 1997); or Together We Can, a locally developed model based on small group guided reading and explicit teaching of reading strategies and skills. Participants The study included 117 â€Å"struggling† primary-grade readers in 14 schools and 42 classrooms. Schools that had recently received a state grant to implement one of the reading models were invited to participate. They then contacted the principals, asking them to recommend teachers who were particularly successful at implementing the instructional model for at least one year; they believed that principals would avoid selecting teachers who were struggling with the model, classroom management, student diversity, or any of the myriad complexities that teachers face daily. Independently, they checked the teachers’ credentials by using a state-developed data base and found that the majority of them held advanced rank in the profession; 73% had earned at least 30 credit hours beyond the bachelor’s degree. They also found that 84% of the teachers had taught in their current state of employment for more than five years. The principals distributed consent forms to interested teachers, and when they were returned, the researchers explained to each teacher that the children they wanted to study were those struggling with reading or learning to read. They had no control of the models that were proposed or the schools that were selected to receive the grants. Like many states under accountability mandates, their state is becoming heavily invested in direct instruction models of reading and mathematics, and this predilection was seen in the numbers of students who received scripted early intervention in reading. They asked that by October 1 of the first year of the study, the teachers identify the lowest achieving 20% in their classes. Again, they did not control for socioeconomic status, gender, or ethnicity of the identified children or in any way second-guess the teachers’ selection. Consenting students became the targeted group of children the researchers tested on the phonics application and reading tasks. There were two to five children in each of the classrooms, although due to attrition and a few flawed tests, this number was reduced in some classrooms. Researchers studied one group of children from the beginning of first grade through the end of second grade, documenting growth in phonics for one year. These children are hereafter referred to as â€Å"first graders,† even though they followed them through the end of second grade. The children in this group were all served by a single reading model – one of the five models that appear in Appendix A – across two years; however, most of the children had different teachers implementing the model the second year (in second grade). The study followed a second group from the beginning of second grade through the end of third grade, also documenting growth after two years. These children are hereafter referred to as â€Å"second graders,† even though they followed them through the end of third grade. Like the first graders, the children in this group were served by the same reading model across two years; however, most of the children had different teachers implementing the model the second year (in third grade). Table 1 lists the participants by model. Procedures for Data Collection and Analysis of Student Achievement Instruments The researcher pre- and post-tested first grade children on clay’s Hearing Sounds in Words Test (1993), a phonics application task that included encoding a sentence. This measure was conducted only with first graders, as this was the norming sample. It will hereafter be referred to as the â€Å"phonics measure† or â€Å"phonics achievement.† On the clay test, the examiner reads two sentences to the child, â€Å"The bus is coming fast. It will stop here to let me get on.† Then the sentences are read again, word by word, and children encode the sentence as the researcher dictates. The children are encouraged to do the best they can with the spelling and â€Å"use the sounds of words to write as much as you can.† The children score a point for each letter or group of letters they write that correctly correspond to the sounds in the words. Children can score from O to 37 on this test. The researchers selected this test because they believed it to be a more authentic assessment of phonics understanding and use than phonological tests on which children call out letter sounds they see or sound out semantically disconnected word lists. Data collection Researchers were trained using each of the testing instruments given. The training involved an explanation and demonstration of the testing procedures and observation of videotapes of the project director testing various children. The researchers scored those children, discussed results, and adjusted their expectations through more explanation and demonstration by the director. Children were pre-tested during the months of September and post-tested during the month of May during each of the two years of the study. Children were tested in one-on-one situations in quiet places, arranged by the classroom teacher or grant administrator for periods of no more than 30 minutes at a time. While the pre-testing took approximately 30 minutes per child, the post-testing took 60-90 minutes per child for most children, thus each child was met two or three times. The researchers attempted to make the children comfortable and rewarded them afterwards with stickers. All reading passages were tape-recorded. Quantitative analysis of achievement data For ease in comparing achievement, the researchers used the benchmarks provided by each of the tests. Clay’s Hearing Sounds in Words phonics test has a range of 1-37, with intervals of 1. Two trained researchers individually scored every Clay test, and these scores were compared against one another for accuracy. Where there was discrepancy in scoring, a third researcher also reviewed the data, and the group negotiated the final score. Scores were entered into a data base, and two team members reviewed each of them for accuracy in data entry. In this study, test score data were statistically analyzed in two ways. First, pretest scores were subtracted from posttest scores. The resulting gain scores were used as dependent variables in a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), with the reading models as the independent variables. Test 1 was a comparison of phonics achievement of students in the different reading models (one-year gain). For each test, students’ achievement in only five models was compared. Importantly, due to the unequal number of students in each of the comparison groups, and the small numbers of participants in some of the models, the interpretations about the findings of these tests are made with caution and based on trends in the data. Data Collection and Analysis of Instructional Practices The researchers collected data on the instructional models in three ways: a) by observing the teachers and taking field notes, b) by interviewing the teachers about their practices, and c) by completing an observation instrument after leaving the site (which required reflection and quantification of what was observed). For this analysis, they specifically gathered data on: 1) the focus of instruction, 2) the primary literacy activities conducted, and 3) the length of time children spent reading connected text. Other salient characteristics of the models, such as whether the model was considered an intervention for struggling readers or a whole class model, are also described. Observations and interviews Schools were contacted and arrangements were made to observe the teachers who had been previously identified as fully implementing the instructional model adopted through the state program. The researchers visited each teacher four times and observed between 90-180 minutes during each visit, depending on how long â€Å"literacy instruction† was conducted in that classroom. Researchers sat in the room and recorded what the teacher said and did in the form of field notes. One important feature in our field notes was the regular marking of time. In an effort to understand how teachers distributed their instructional time for various activities, they recorded the time in the margins of their field notes approximately every five minutes. After each visit, the researchers interviewed the classroom teacher the same day the observations were made. Among the questions they asked were about how typical the observed instruction was and how the children were selected for testing to ensure that they indeed were studying the bottom 20%. Observation instrument After exiting the field site, the researcher used the field notes and interview to complete an observation instrument that summarized and quantified instructional patterns. A small section of instrument was used to help determine the teacher’s focus of instruction. The instrument, the field notes, and the interview made a â€Å"data set† for analysis. Analysis of instruction In the first phase of analysis, researchers gathered to examine the data sets. Using a form created by the project director, the researchers summarized what happened during each of the visits. From these summaries of the field notes and interviews, the project director created a set of codes that reflected much of the data, a content analysis of sorts (Miles & Huberman, 1994). Then, the research team partitioned the field notes into â€Å"activity settings† (Tharp & Gallimore, 1988) in order to create smaller, bounded units of analysis. This meant that whenever there was a change in activity (the people, place, or product of instruction), the ensuing activity was considered a unit of analysis and coded separately. The Researcher did not consider as â€Å"change in setting† instances in which children had to leave a group early or if a lesson was interrupted. Thus, the lessons were coded holistically by setting. Settings lasted from five to 45 minutes. For example, one setting for analysis might be a 10-minute whole class lesson on which the teacher guided the children to â€Å"correct† a message she had written without punctuation. When the same teacher signaled to the children it was time to work in learning centers, a new unit of analysis was begun. Sometimes there were multiple simultaneous activity settings, and the researcher usually made the decision to follow the teacher. For each activity setting, they coded the teacher’s primary activity, followed by what researchers interpreted, from both observations and interviews, was the teacher’s focus for the activity-either to help students develop phonologically (ACTIV-phon), or to help students learn something else (ACTIV-other). The primary instructional activities observed in each class were listed on the summary sheet. Finally, to determine the time children spent reading connected text, they used an earlier analysis of these data (Authors, 2005). They first defined connected text as â€Å"texts of meaningful sentences or longer; that is, more than one connected sentence;† although, in this study, connected text was usually an entire story. Then, they clarified activities that comprised examples of opportunities to read connected text. The following practices were categorized as such: choral reading; echo reading (even though technically the teacher was doing half of the reading); guided silent reading; guided oral reading; and established periods for independent reading. Activities not included as â€Å"opportunities for reading connected text† included read aloud story time, times when the teacher was directly teaching something, times when students completed worksheets that included only words or unrelated sentences, drill of individual words, or time on non-print responses to literature. Then, the researchers highlighted in field notes when students were provided opportunities to read connected text. They calculated the percentage of time in such activity against the total time designated for language arts instruction. They examined all four observations of each teacher together as a unit because they knew they were going to categorize them. Using group consensus, they defined classrooms as having much opportunity to read connected text during all four observations, a moderate amount of time, or little time. After each data set was analyzed and each teacher categorized, they compared instructional foci and practices across models. They listed all the teachers in a given model together, and looked across these data sets for patterns.